5 Things learned from the Australian open

The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, has come to a finish with the World number one winning the singles in both the Men’s and Women’s game. And while Djokovic and Serena celebrate an early season major and the perfect start to the year, there are some new lessons we learned in Melbourne at the Australian Open.

Martina Hingis is only 34 years old!

When you think of Martina Hingis you immediately think of the young Hingis in 1997. Back in 1997 Hingis made all four Grand Slam finals winning all of them except the French Open. She was the undisputed world no. 1 and rightfully so. Fast forward 18 years and Hingis is an Australian Open champion again. Hingis, partnering with 41 year old Leander Paes, won the Mixed Doubles title, meaning she has won a Grand Slam title in three separate decades. The incredible part of it all is that Hingis is just one year older than Serena Williams.

Kim Sears (the future Mrs Murray) has a wicked sense of humour

Kim Sears, the fiance of Andy Murray, caused a viral storm after her sweary antics in the Semi-finals, when she mouthed off a few choice words at Berdych’s camp, were caught on camera. Instead of being embarrassed by the situation and trying to issue a “I’m sorry I didn’t mean it, even though I really did mean it” apology, Kim decided to rock the Australian Open final by wearing a shirt brandishing the Parental Advisory logo. Class act she may be not, but a sense of humour under exceptional scrutiny is a fantastic trait.

Serena is to Sharapova what Berdych is to Murray

Since Maria Sharapova beat Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final in 2004, the pair have met a further sixteen times. In those sixteen matches, Serena has emerged victorious in every one of them. Seven of these were finals including an Olympic Games final, two Australian Open finals and a French Open final. Maria must be desperately hoping for Serena to retire sooner rather than later!

America are making a return to the top

America used to have regular champions in both the Mens and Womens games with the likes of Pete Sampras, Andre Aggasi, Andy Roddick, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport amongst the Grand Slam winners. Of course the Americans have still had the Williams sisters, but that aside, have not been a force for many years. That is of course starting to change and in the Australian Open we saw Madison Keys joining the likes of Sloane Stephens and Madison Brengle in players with the potential to challenge on the world stage. Now we just wait for the Men to start to challenge too.

Djokovic is now not the favourite for the French Open

In sport the moment you win a major tournament you immediately become the favourite for the next tournament. So has been the case in many previous years for the winner of the Australian Open, immediately installed as the favourite for the French Open. But amazingly not since 1992, when Jim Courier did the double, has the Australian Open champion emerged victorious in France. Of course if Nadal is not fit you would think Djokovic has a major chance, but history is not on his side.

Article Written by Tyron Barnard. See more scintillating articles at one of SA’s best sports blog sites – http://allthingsjabu.co.za/